Home > Data and Analysis Related to Trump Administration Actions on Immigrant and Refugee Policy

Data and Analysis Related to Trump Administration Actions on Immigrant and Refugee Policy

In its first days, the Trump administration released wide-ranging executive orders on immigration and refugee resettlement, touching on everything from the construction of a border wall to deportation policy, the refugee resettlement program, and admissions from certain majority-Muslim countries. These MPI research and data resources offer context directly related to the issues addressed in the executive orders and the populations they will affect, as well as policy changes achieved and proposed via other mechanisms.

COMMENTARY: The Trump Immigration Plan: A Lopsided Proposal
The White House immigration plan offered as a solution to resolve the fate of DREAMers seeks legal immigration cuts unlike any seen since 1924. In addition to a decrease of up to 40 percent in family-sponsored immigration, the proposal demands vast increases in enforcement and a retrenchment in protections for those seeking humanitarian relief. In exchange, one-sixth of the unauthorized population could gain legal status.

REPORT: Trump's First Year on Immigration Policy: Rhetoric vs. Reality
Looking back after one year in office, it is striking how just closely the Trump administration’s actions on immigration have hewed to priorities Donald Trump outlined in an uncommonly detailed policy speech in August 2016. This report revisits those pledges—from stepping up enforcement and building a wall, to ending Obama-era protections for unauthorized immigrants—to assess where the administration has made the most and least headway, as well as what might be to come in the next years.

COMMENTARY: The Refugee Resettlement Program Is an Unsuitable Target
The executive order suspending U.S. refugee resettlement has identified a singularly unsuitable target. None of the 3 million-plus refugees who have entered through the resettlement program has killed anyone in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Singling out refugees will not make America safer.

ARTICLE: Syrian Refugees in the United States
More than 18,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in the U.S. since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011; nearly half are under age 14. This demographic profile of Syrian refugees includes age, religion, and top destinations.

COMMENTARY: The U.S. Record Shows Refugees Are Not a Threat
Between September 11, 2001 and October 2015, the United States resettled 784,000 refugees. In those years, three resettled refugees were arrested for planning terrorist activities. The record of the U.S. refugee resettlement program does not support the fear of security threats.

ARTICLE: Mexican Immigrants in the United States
Mexican immigration to the U.S. has slowed significantly in recent years. Still, Mexicans account for the largest group of immigrants in the U.S. See how they compare to the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations.

ARTICLE: The Trump Administration at Six Months: A Sea Change in Immigration Enforcement
Making good on campaign promises to toughen immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has acted swiftly to cast a wider net in the U.S. interior. The actions represent a sea change in enforcement practice, moving from a tight focus on high-priority individuals to an era in which all unauthorized immigrants may be subject to deportation. This article explores the shifts undertaken during President Trump's first 100 days.

COMMENTARY: Legalization for DREAMers: A Realistic Appraisal of Potential Chain Migration
Amid growing calls for Congress to pass DREAM Act-type legislation, critics are arguing that legalization would spur vast new "chain migration" because DREAMers could eventually sponsor their relatives for green cards. MPI estimates the numbers who could receive legal permanent residence as a result of sponsorship by DREAMers would be far lower, for a range of reasons explained in this commentary.

COMMENTARY: The RAISE Act: Dramatic Change to Family Immigration, Less So for the Employment-Based System
The RAISE Act endorsed by President Trump would have dramatic effects on family-based immigration to the United States, with disproportionate effects for immigrants from several countries in particular. While much focus has been given to the sponsors' pledge of "merit-based" immigration, the effects on the U.S. employment-based immigration system would be more modest in terms of outcomes, as this commentary explores.

INTERACTIVE MAPS: U.S. Immigration Population by State and County and Metropolitan Area
Interested in where refugees live in the U.S.? These maps display the distribution of immigrant populations by state and county, as well as metro area.

DATA: Unauthorized Immigrant Population Profiles
Learn about the estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Where do they live? When did they arrive, and from where? What are their incomes and health care coverage? This tool provides detailed profiles for the United States, most states, and counties with the largest unauthorized populations.